I was browsing my favorite art site, deviantart.com, a few days ago and came across this painting. A nicely done picture of Jesus titled, My Best Friend. My tollerence of bullshit was very low at that particular time (lower than it ususlly is!). In a fit of pique I left a simple, harsh, comment, “I’m sorry”. I am not usually so blunt, espeically with someone I’ve never met. I probably should have just ignored it and moved on. I didn’t and now I have an interesting situation to deal with.

Today, the artist who made that picture sent me a note. Here is the exchange:

I’m sorry that your best friend is someone who doesn’t exist, or at least who you can’t see, touch, or hear. I believe that this life is precious and that it is all that we are sure that we have. For me, to put emotions into something that you can’t be sure is there is a waste. It does you and the people around you a disservice. By expending time, emotion, and even love on something that may or may not be real takes that time, emotion, and love away from the people around you who need it here, now.

I am not trying to say that you shouldn’t believe in Jesus, but you live in this world with people who love you and need you. Make the most of it and give yourself and those you love every minute you have, every bit of love that you can. If after doing this, you feel you still have time and energy left for Jesus, great. But to say that he is your best friend is an insult to your real friends, who are here now and who need you.

I doubt anything I say will make a difference. She seems honest and sincere and I tried to answer her question honestly and sincerely. Of course, I could be totally off base, after all, she calls me her “best friend”. Maybe that is just how she addresses everyone she knows, including the magic Jewish zombie man.

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10 thoughts on “My Best Friend is a Magic Jewish Zombie!”

Omg, Jay, this is too funny. Sometimes I just get so upset I have to go off, but usually I contain myself. I am so happy to live vicariously through you today!

Not that you really went off. All you said was I’m sorry and your response was perfectly reasonable. Still, it’s pretty unheard of for us to call out bullshit like that. Did it feel good? Maybe we should be doing more of that, so it wouldn’t be so shocking.

Oh and was that art? It looks like something my kid would have done in second grade on Microsoft Paint…

Being Jewish (an atheist yes but Jewish as some are Italian) I HATE when Jesus is referred to as Jewish.

Yes, Yes, I know he was Jewish but still it irks me.

Every time I have the argument that the Jews never created a Hitler, a Pol Pot, a Stalin, I have to hope they don’t say “Yeah? Well you foisted Jesus on us and look how many have been Killed in HIS name!”

I sort of liked the painting by the way but liked your comment even more. It is EXACTLY what I would and have said.

That is actually much closer to reality that you might think. The Christianity we see today was almost entirely a creation of Paul. In the 30 or 40 years after Jesus’ death, the main group of followers were his disciples, who lived in Jerusalem and worshiped in synagogues and at the temple. These were lead by Jesus’ own brother James, and Peter. They held strictly to the Jewish laws which caused a schism between them and Paul and his followers, because Paul didn’t believe you needed to be circumcised or follow the dietary restrictions, while James and Peter did.